Jin Liang, captain of the urban management brigade, was in a foul mood. He had been losing at mahjong for days-five or six thousand yuan, by his rough estimate.
They said bad luck at the gambling table meant good luck in love, but the young married woman at the Commerce Bureau whom he had nearly won over had turned lukewarm lately. Whenever he asked her out, either her husband was home or she was too busy looking after her child.
After a few drinks with his buddies at the bureau over lunch, he figured he had nothing better to do and went out for a spin in an enforcement vehicle.
They had roughed up a few street vendors who didn't know their place, all in the course of their routine duties, and were about to move on to the next stop when three patrol police officers ran over from a distance and blocked their way.
"Why did you beat him?" Patrol officer Hu Qingjie glanced at the elderly man lying on the ground and demanded an answer, his expression stern.
Even without the director's cousin asking him to intervene, he couldn't stand these bastards. Just look at their swagger, decked out in riot helmets, cut-resistant gloves, stab-proof vests, and reflective vests.
And their leader in particular-who the hell did he think he was, carrying the same baton they used?
"Are you blind? Can't you see we're enforcing the law and clearing out illegal vendors obstructing the street?" Jin Liang snapped.
Other people might be scared of you cops, but we're not. In that showdown on Yifeng Road last year, your Public Security Bureau was the one that came off worse.
An officer beside Jin Liang gave him a discreet tug. He wanted to quietly remind his captain that their Urban